The Ivy Recensioni 

We made a booking for afternoon tea at the Norwich branch. The restaurant is lovely, very pretty and the staff are helpful and friendly. We have eaten there on numerous occasions. However, I would not book an afternoon tea again. At most places doing teas you are allowed to take home the cakes etc you don't eat. The Ivy puts a creme brulee in a small pan and the chocolate pots in terracotta pots so these cannot be taken home. I think this is a bit of a swizz.

The Ivy City Garden A group of regular lunchers went to The Ivy City Garden searching for a venue for our regular luncheon, our former restaurant having just changed hands, for the worse! Right from the outset of our arrival it was obvious that the staff were poorly trained (if at all) and not passionate about their duties. Drinks were muddled and missed prepared plus they turned up at very different times, so the traditional cheers had to be made three times!! The food was ordered and once again our starters arrived in dribs and drabs mine not arriving at all until words were had. Main courses similar problems plates arrived over 5 minute period, and one of my group had a totally raw piece of tuna! This was replaced some 15 minutes after most of us had finisehed. The manager did offer my group a free drink in an attempt to placate the situation, but it dosent get over the fact that this is, on our experiance, a very badly run establishment.

I am a user of the original Ivy and The Ivy Club, both of which are superbly manage with excellently trained staff. The Ivy City Garden is damaging that reputation.

There is no way I would ever return to this branch of the Ivy Collection.

The food was outstanding! I had a birthday lunch and decided on shepherds pie it was absolutely delicious!!! The restaurant and waiters were excellent and even bought a cake with candle it was such a wonderful lunch! I would highly recommend St Albans Restaurant, great atmosphere and great food ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Went to celebrate my birthday with my family, five of us in total. Made to wait in lobby downstairs for 20 minutes with 10 other guests. It was like waiting in a Doctors waiting room. The reception staff were not very sympathetic to the fact we had to wait standing up for 20 minutes. Wasn't even allowed to go to the bar for a drink, apparently overcrowded. Finally got to out table and again staff were indifferent and rushed. Food was not as good as expected. Overall below average experience.

We are extremely disappointed with our experience at The Ivy today.

We chose to bring friends with us for lunch as it was their first visit, but unfortunately the experience was so poor that it has left us questioning whether we will return.

What makes this particularly frustrating is that this is now the third poor experience we have had in our last four visits.

On Mother's Day, we were overlooked when flowers were being given to mothers, despite every other mother around us receiving one. Combined with very poor food service, it made what should have been a special first Mother's Day a disappointing experience. To their credit, the manager apologised and refunded the bill, so we decided to give the restaurant another chance.

Our Christmas visit to see the elves was excellent, and the service was exactly what we would expect from The Ivy.

However, when we visited again at Easter, the service was poor once more. We raised our concerns, but nobody appeared interested in resolving them.

Sadly, today's visit was the worst of all.

The attitude of several members of staff was genuinely shocking. Our order was taken in a rushed and unprofessional manner. Menus were removed before our order had been fully clarified, and staff then had to return because they had not asked key questions about our meals. When we asked a simple question about whether the gravy contained beef stock, the response was met with visible frustration because they needed to check with the kitchen. Another member of staff then became involved, but her attitude was equally dismissive and unhelpful.

I completely understand that mistakes happen. Restaurants get busy and things can go wrong. The problem is that the restaurant wasn't even busy, which makes the level of service even more disappointing. What I cannot accept is poor customer service and a complete lack of care from both staff and management. When choosing a venue such as The Ivy, the customer experience should be a priority, not an afterthought.

The most disappointing aspect was that nobody seemed concerned about the impact this was having on our experience. We were entertaining friends, and what should have been an enjoyable afternoon became uncomfortable and frustrating because of the attitude and lack of professionalism shown by the team.

We currently have another table booked at the end of June to visit with our parents, but following today's experience we will be cancelling it. After three poor experiences in four visits, we have unfortunately lost confidence in this venue.

A smile, professionalism, a willingness to help, and managers who genuinely care about their guests should be the absolute minimum standard in hospitality. Sadly, that was completely absent today.

We have given this restaurant multiple opportunities because we wanted to enjoy the experience and because we know what The Ivy is capable of when it gets things right. Unfortunately, the consistency simply is not there, and after today's experience we will be taking our custom elsewhere.

Two of us visited the Ivy York on Sunday 31st May 2026
We were greeted eventually by a group of staff who were chatting as we walked in .
Our reservation couldn’t be found - I had booked online and the system was blamed for the wrong name being recorded !
We were asked if we had any allergies and although it is not an allergy I did mention I had diabetes
We ordered Roast chicken Sunday Lunch
A large Yorkshire Pudding ( as big as the plate was served containing 4 large roast potatoes and 2 lumps of chicken ( not sliced) and a small pan of gravy . Besides of tenderstem broccoli and green beans came to the table later .
Hardly a balanced meal for a diabetic counting carbs !!!!!
I really could not eat it and by this time the meal was cold.
When the waitress arrived to clear the table I explained by I had been unable to eat it and she told me I should have complained earlier - there were no staff about as we were eating our meal.
We went on to order a dessert- I chose berries and yoghurt which was all frozen the small jug of white chocolate sauce did not make the fruit easier to eat .
A latte for my husband and pot of coffee with milk finished off our meal.
The silver pot and milk jug were tarnished
I asked the waitress where the accessible toilet was and she took me there as she said it was difficult to find
Inside the toilet there were no paper towels and the hand dryer was faulty
A half used toilet roll had been put near the basin .
I have to say it had not been very pleasant meal.
The cost of my meal was deducted from the bill.
We walked out and no one spoke to us from the counter

Went to The Ivy by Tower Bridge before seeing a show. We were seated by an air conditioning machine with its hose stuck out the fire exit, I’m sure this is illegal. Went to use the ladies and upon exiting a member of staff who was in front of me, she opened the door, didn’t even bother to look to see if anyone was behind her and the door slammed in my face, no manners. And I ordered the Black Bee Honey and White Cheesecake. It arrived in a sludge with the waitress saying, “Oops, it toppled over as I was walking over, never mind, it will taste the same…” Yes lucky I wasn’t a food critic, yes it was a hot day but it looked an unappetising mess and for the price, I expect it to look how it should. Considering The Ivy is known for its ‘posh dining experience’, I’d say it’s gone down massively. All in all, The Ivy is now just a glorified Zizzi’s, in fact, Zizzi’s is better.

Went on Friday evening a fight broke out between a wedding party absolutely carnage staff did nothing I phoned the police awful experience even put a service charge on our bill getting legal advice

Excellent service at The Ivy in Exeter,Sam our waiter was so lovely.

Polite , attentive staff , good depth of menu options and cooked well .
Only slight criticism was that we had put down on the booking that it was our 20th wedding anniversary, but this fell on deaf ears.
I liked the fact that most people had made an effort to dress up .
Not sure how it would be on a weekend- full of instagramming?
We’ll try it on a weekend and leave a second review as a comparison 😉

Visited Ivy Chelsea on Saturday 23 May for breakfast before going to the Chelsea Flower Show. The Ivy breakfast was really delicious with great choices. My daughters and I were served by Sint (Sinchana) who was excellent - the whole experience was very special, fab atmosphere! Thank you , highly recommended.

Had a Lovely Burnch at the Ivy in Guildford with my friends.. We ordered the eggs benedict and absolutley loved it!! The food was really fresh and well prepared. I big thanks to Anthony who made our experience even better with his exceptional customer service. We had an amaizing time and we will be back soon

Beautiful restaurant, great food, great service and the toilets are amazing! The only thing that let's this place down is the mandatory 12.5% service charge! This was my first visit, it was a special occasion. The Ivy, as beautiful as it is, is a very expensive restaurant and I am not wealthy by any means. Whilst I would have left a tip I would never have left 12.5% and I prefer it to be my choice. This will be the reason I don't go back sadly.

We had four nights in York this week, twice we went to The Ivy at York. This was our first visit to any of the Ivy restaurants but it won’t be the last. The food was beyond delicious! The staff are so attentive they make you feel very special indeed. Honestly, worth every penny. Can’t wait to return.

Absolutely appalling experience. Lady at reception yesterday was condescending and downright unprofessional.We were seated in a corner next to the till and dead dusty plants with flies next to us.We asked to be moved 10min into out visit and 2 hours later when our visit ended we were still at the same table but we did receive stank eye looks from some of the staff lm guessing because we expressed how unhappy we were and l didnt make it a secret that l took pics of one of the big flies next to us as well as the dirty and dead trees.Food was ok but the place has tables crammed everywhere and looses its ambience so it was noisy with slow service .An overall terrible experience for what was supposed to be a special night. Its definitely not worth the money you spend We got better food and better service at Clock ear pub .Props however go to the lady that was assisting our table, Caitlin was nice and professional throughout and you could see she was uncomfortable because her superiors were clearly not planning on giving us a proper table

Hello, Harriet & Robbie

Thank you for the excellent service you gave to myself and my friends, I was really happy with after the service we received from you both and you ensured the we were comfortable.

Robbie was friendly and attentive and welcomed us to the Ivy and gave us a really good service.
Harriet was equally friendly and helpful and ensured that we were looked after and comfortable throughout our visit.

Harriet & Robbie were amazing tonight, there is nowhere in Chester that has better service!

The Ivy Chester , amazing service from Harriet and Robbie , highly recommend this place, These guys were courteous, and funny and made our stay really enjoyable. Well done to the Ivy for employing such engaging staff

Harriet and Robbie were very attentive and were very welcoming.

We went to the Ivy in Exeter yesterday, the service was first class, the place was packed with a good ambience and the staff were excellent our waitress Libby was lovely and very helpful especially around my sister’s intolerance to chilli. I would recommend this Ivy to anyone who would like a great meal with lovely surroundings.